Romney campaign rocked by secret video

Mitt Romney's White House campaign was rocked Monday by a secretly filmed video in which he said nearly half of Americans back President Barack Obama because they are government-dependent "victims" who pay no taxes.

18.09.2012

(AFP) Mitt Romney's White House campaign was rocked Monday by a secretly filmed video in which he said nearly half of Americans back President Barack Obama because they are government-dependent "victims" who pay no taxes.

Obama's team quickly seized on the film of Romney addressing rich donors, released by the liberal Mother Jones magazine, as proof the multi-millionaire candidate had written off half the nation and was not fit to be president.

In a hastily-arranged press conference in Los Angeles, Romney insisted that his goal as president would be to "help all Americans," but he did not shy away from the remarks, saying only that they were "not elegantly stated."

The video was the latest blow to the Romney campaign as it fights off reports that its team is in disarray and struggles to close a small but consistent gap with Obama in national polls and battleground states.

"My job is is not to worry about those people"

In excerpts from the video, which emerged 50 days before the November 6 election, Romney says in a private fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans are essentially freeloaders who will vote for the president "no matter what."

"There are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it," he says.

"These are people who pay no income tax... so our message of low taxes doesn't connect," he says.

"My job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Mother Jones's YouTube channel also features other videos from the night with Romney speaking on foreign policy, the Middle East, and other topics.

Obama campaign slams video

Mother Jones streamed the images on its website and blurred everyone except Romney. The magazine later said the event was a May 17 fundraiser at the home of private equity manager Marc Leder in Boca Raton, Florida.

The leaked footage provided the latest in a long line of comments by Romney that have complicated his attempts to shed the image framed by Obama's campaign of a rich businessman out of touch with the middle class.

Obama's campaign manager Jim Messina pounced.

"It's shocking that a candidate for president of the United States would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the American people view themselves as 'victims,' entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take 'personal responsibility' for their lives," he said.

"It's hard to serve as president for all Americans when you've disdainfully written off half the nation."

"I want to get those people in the middle"

In California, a nervous-looking Romney said of the video: "it's not elegantly stated, let me put it that way." But, Romney stressed, "I am talking about the political process of drawing people into my campaign."

"The president has his group, I have my group. I want to keep my team strong and motivated and I want to get those people in the middle," Romney added.

"That's something which fundraising people who are parting with their monies are very interested in knowing -- can you win or not? -- and that's what this was addressing."